by Kat | 1 day ago | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Dear Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
I have finishes this week! A completed pair of socks and one finished Gnome!
First, the socks! Pattern is Hermoine’s Everyday Socks with an afterthought heel and toes done in a contrasting yarn. They fit well and I think these will go into the sock drawer for me!
Now, a bit of mood music for the next finish…
Valkyrie Gnova, ready to ride!
Up next, that Gnome Valkyrie! Meet Gnova who is eagerly entering Valhalla to ride with the other Valkyries as she guides Gnomes (and perhaps, Knitters of Gnomes!!) to Odin’s Hall! I love her “leather” Hauberk! It took a bit of figuring on how best to accomplish the vision in my mind’s eye… a few tries later and voilá… one well fitting Hauberk! I was a bit less creative than this for her sword and shield, but I am happy with my rudimentary weapons! The best part… if you are very quiet, you might hear her singing out from Valhalla!
I saw this on IG and thought… hmm, Feather and Fan socks might be a fun knit! And, as luck would have it (or better yet, just a very good library!) my library had a copy of the Socks, Socks, Socks book. I cast on and knit a few inches, but my gauge is so tight! I need to rip it out and go up a needle size. Stay tuned!
Yay for well-stocked libraries!!
I also cast on a Honey Cowl that I am hoping to finish before we leave for Erie later this month! This is that crazy skein of yarn I spun from Wound Up Fiber Arts Scrappy Sock Bundle.
From this…
To this!!!
On the super secret knitting front… I have been miraculously selected to “pre-knit” Ailbíona McLochlainn’s soon-to-be-released cardigan sweater. I just got the pattern yesterday, so swatching is on my list today.
I have stitching as well, but that will have to wait until next week!
The reading this week… ahhh! So, so delightful! I finished The Seed Keeper… and LOVED it! I also finished a book of Michael Ondaatje’s poetry: A Year of Last Things. I have been reading, re-reading, and re-reading some more since January. It is good… so good! It is out now and might be just the thing you need for your Poetry Bookshelf for National Poetry Month… just saying!
The current listen in my ears is Raynor Winn’s The Salt Path (narrated by the divine Anne Reid!!) I am about a quarter of the way in and enjoying the journey with Raynor and her husband Moth, as they walk the South West Coast Path.
At night I am meandering though Forgotten on Sunday… Valérie Perrin’s soon-to-be-published book! I am enjoying it very much.
Now for the brief, but so very spectacular, appointment with my audiologist… Can I just say that technology rocks? The hearing aids of today are NOT your grandmother’s hearing aid! It has been a process to get here, but imagine my wonder and surprise when the audiologist took the results from my hearing test and input them into the “test” hearing aids and put them in my ears! I could not contain the tears… it was as if my ears had been packed with cotton wool and someone removed it… as in instant hearing of things I had long forgotten. Anyways, hearing aids have been ordered… now I am really eagerly awaiting their arrival! I go May 14 to get them! Really… after the brief soundstravaganza I had this afternoon, I can barely wait! I will share more about them, the costs, the process, and the fittings for a later post. But, this is a life changing thing… for the freaking better!
There is my week… what about you? What are you working on this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Apr 10, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
I am happy to say that the clouds thinned themselves down enough for there to be quite an amazing show here in the south hills of Pittsburgh on Monday! We were not a total eclipse, but at 97%, it was close enough! I paced my timing to pop out to see the progression between sourdough coil folds and chicken fajita dinner prep and by the time that sourdough loaf was tucked away in the refrigerator for its overnight rest, dinner was well underway the show was over. The sourdough bread making process is an excellent reminder that slow making is not a bad thing…
Which is a very good thing because this has been a very slow making week here. I am inching along on Sock #2 and I have had a few “starts” for my Valkyrie… a few starts followed by an equal number of ripping out what I started. Ideas don’t always work out… but all those failures sometimes reveal the path to success! Yes, I think I have found what will work and plan to try again this afternoon!
It’s a good thing that the stitching is not having failures! I finished page sixteen… The Selvage Library. Yes, this page includes almost all the selvage’s from the fabrics I used in the book… a sort of bibliography! Haha!
I have been watching with great interest Nell’s progress on a new skirt! I am intrigued and oh my… that color!
It has been an incredible reading week though! I have finished four books and I have even more good things queued up next! My finishes were the soon to be published Vera Stanhope book, The Dark Wives (coming August 27th), The Berry Picker’s, James, and another soon to be published book by Peter Nichols – Granite Harbor (publishing April 30th) which was a fast-paced, edge of your seat, can’t stop until it’s done, one sitting book!
This week I am listening to The Seed Keeper and reading an advanced copy of Valérie Perrin’s soon to be published Forgotten On Sunday (coming June 4tth). It is too early to make any judgements about the books, but they are each off to a good start!
There you have my making this week! See you all back here tomorrow with some poetry!
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Apr 3, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Gentle Unravelers and Happy Wednesday to you all!
April showers are indeed showering here… it has been a rainy week. The grass is green and lush and if it would stop raining Steve would get the mower out… But it rains on so there is complaining… lots and lots of complaining! However, I have gotten very good at tuning him out! Hearing loss does indeed have benefits! Ha!
It has been a creative week here. I have a finished sock! I used a neutral for the heel and toes and I have to say that my “work around” for an afterthought heel makes the fit fantastic! I do some short rows before beginning the heel decreases. I used the decrease formula that the designer uses for the toes… and that makes for a nice fitting heel! Sock Two is underway… and I am having a thought that if I stay on this pace… I will knit 24 socks (12 pairs) this year! Okay… I am in! Haha!
I completed my 15th page in the 100 Day Project! This one was so fun… more time was used in the cutting out of the “chickens” so I compensated for that with simpler stitching.
March Stitching… what fun. This month I stepped out of my “stitch comfort zone” and learned new techniques, new stitches… and it was so fun!
March, done and dusted!
But!! The best I also have a Valkyrie! Yes, the “main” bit is finished. I still have arms and a nose to knit and two fat braids. But I am trying to figure out the best way to make a bit of “body armor”, a shield, and a sword! I have some ideas… now to just bring them to fruition!
A Valkyrie in the making!
The reading this week saw just one finish… but the in process reading is full of good things! I am listening to The Berry Picker and for the reading with my eyes selection… I am making my way through an advanced copy of a new Vera mystery. (My gosh… I do so love dear Vera!) And I have been reading LOTS and LOTS of poetry! Hurrah for National Poetry Month!
What about you? What are you contemplating as April begins to unfold?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Mar 27, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings dearest Unravelers!
We have reached the final Wednesday of March… and I am trying to figure out the March Lion/Lamb conundrum. March has had some very curious weather in the ‘Burgh and it seems that the Lamb/Lamb version is how my March will end… but perhaps that is not so bad.
The making this week has had some unraveling…sigh. That sock… I was worried about pooling but in the straightway down the leg I fell in love with the Wabi–Sabi striping that the yarn was brilliantly doing! And then came the heel flap and gusset where all those lovely “stripes” fell into two distinct pools of color… purple on one side, green on the other, which I thought was pretty darned ugly. But I knit on hoping I could get past the ugliness of it. In the end I could not so I ripped it back, put in a row of stitches for an afterthought heel, and continued those delight stripes down the foot. My love is back for this yarn! I had completely forgotten how perfect Helen’s Shepherd sock yarn is! It has an almost cottony feel to it and it creates a lovely fabric at my “sock gauge”!
I have one finished Valkyrie Hat… which I soaked and it is blocking on a wee ball of yarn. Up next… some Valkyrie horns for that hat!
My main love this week continues to be stitching. It is the thing I think most about every day (even though I don’t spend much time stitching, I do spend a LOT of time planning pages…) I finished another page in for my book… and I LOVE it! Those circles were just so fun to do!
I am thinking that this “design” will soon be translated to a larger version to make a pillow! It was just all so fun to do!
The current page (in the header photo) has an “oops” bit of fabric… I used this fabric to make a hat for Winston when he was a baby and this cut did not “match up” the plaids perfectly, so into the scrap bag it went. A piece showing the delight of circles… I have a few more Colonial Knots to add yet today and a new page begins tomorrow!
The reading this week though… oh my goodness. It was just perfection! I think I read the best book I will read all year over the past couple of months. I have slowly savored On Time and Water. I borrowed it from the library and have been so lucky that I could renew it not once but twice! But this is a book that needs to live in my library, so I have ordered a copy for myself. If you are at all interested in the question: “Is 100 years a long time?” and as you are contemplating the answer, dear Andri has some thinking for you! (My answer: I don’t think 100 years is very long at all but when I asked Genevieve… well, she thought it was a very, very long time.) I highly recommend Mr. Magnason’s brilliant book!
I was so lucky to get an advanced digital copy of a new mystery series, Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor. I really enjoyed it! The ending was unexpected and there are some very mysterious characters! I can’t wait to see where the next book goes (and yes, I am eagerly anticipating it!!) Agony Hill will be published August 6… so you won’t have too long to wait!
And there you have my making and reading catch up with you all… what about you? What is exciting you this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Mar 20, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Gentle Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
I have finished my *third* pair of socks this year! What??? I don’t know who these socks will be for, but they are going in the Gift Bag for someone! I am going to cast on another pair pronto… I have some Vintage Lorna’s Laces in the most delightful colors. I am a bit concerned about pooling, but I am going to give the yarn a go! Same pattern, I think… Hermoine’s Everyday Sock is such a fun knit!
I also have the start of my Valkyrie!! Barely… but yes, started!
But really, stitching is on my mind… lots and lots of stitching! I have another page completed! (all the work time on this one was in the appliqué of the flowers!) I recently had the opportunity to take a Dream Bird class from Jo Avery and I learned some incredible tips for the appliqué process. I wanted to cement them in my mind, so I took the opportunity with a page.
I really want to learn EPP (English Paper Piecing)… and have been watching videos and IG for some inspiration. Once the 100-day project is finished, I am going to give it a try with a small project (no quilts… yet, lol!) One small project to dip my toes in is a good place to start!
The reading dam broke this week, and I have three finishes! And this week, I find myself back in St. Denis with the intrepid Police Chief Bruno Courrèges… it feels good and of course, there is a murder! Haha! I am also reading another Netgalley book, Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor (another murder mystery… with some mysterious characters as well!) The cure for any reading slump for me is to settle in with a good mystery… and double mysteries are even better!
There you have my week! What about you? What are you thinking about this week!
As always, If you wrote a post to share please leave you link below and thank you!
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